top news - "iraq"

He doesn't care if we're in iraq for a hundred years, but when it comes to the veterans who've served over there, the senator is AWOL.

With energy prices soaring and the federal deficit approaching $400 billion, senators from both parties moved yesterday to force iraq to shoulder more financial responsibility for its reconstruction and self-defense.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday laid out a detailed request for $70 billion to partially fund the wars in iraq and Afghanistan while providing more aid to tackle an unfolding global food crisis.

A Marine who survived being burned over more than 95 percent of his body in iraq and established a charity to help burned children has died, the military has announced.

President Bush sent lawmakers a $70 billion request Friday to fund U.S. operations in iraq and Afghanistan into next spring.

A Marine sergeant who became a symbol of resilience as he strove to recover from a roadside bomb blast in iraq that blanketed 97 percent of his body with burns has died, the Defense department said. He was 22.

Republican john mccain defended himself Friday against television ads that accuse him of advocating a 100-year war in iraq.

Iraqi Army helicopters dropped hundreds of leaflets with a message from Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki into Sadr City on Thursday night. The leaflets ask citizens to support government efforts to quell the insurgency there. 'We do urge everyone to do his responsibility and participate in imposing law,' the note says.

Obama publicly denounces his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, both Democratic candidates try to gain ground in North Carolina and Indiana; and the nation marks five years since President Bush declared 'Mission Accomplished' in iraq. Reporter David Lightman and columnist David Sirota discuss these and other stories from the week in politics.

Attorneys presented closing arguments on Wednesday in a class-action lawsuit against the department of Veterans Affairs that alleges the agency is unequipped to provide medical services to treat the mental health problems of soldiers returning from the wars in Afghanistan and iraq, the AP/San francisco Chronicle reports (Elias, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 4/30).